Wire rope clip holder and loop take-up device

ABSTRACT

A holder with a longitudinal channel aligning two strands of wire rope in a U-shaped clip carried by the holder. A rod extended through the holder positions the clip and portions of the wire rope to be clamped together in close configuration without external forces. A takeup device mounted on the rod coacts with the holder to fit a thimble in the eye of the wire rope loop in close proximity to the clip located adjacent the loop.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Franklin P. Becker Decatur; Edward Crook, Jr.. Fort Wayne, both of, Ind. [21]- Appl No. 766,207 (22] Filed Oct. 9,1968 [45] Patented June 29, 1971 [73] Assignee American Hoist & Derrick Company St. Paul, Minn.

[54] WIRE ROPE CLlP HOLDER AND LOOP TAKE-UP DEVICE 18 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 269/103 [51] Int. Cl B23q 3/06 [50} Field of Search 24/68, 125 M, 1351; 29/256; 254/67; 287/81; 269/103; 248/63 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,061,371 11/1936 Taylor 24/135.1X

2,448,636 9/1948 Surk .1 269/103 2,712,724 7/1955 Schoonover 269/103 X 3,358,953 12/1967 Bethea .1 24/125 (M)X 2,980,378 4/1961 Bethea v 269/103X FOREIGN PATENTS 618,724 1949 England 269/103 627,043 1936 Germany 24/125 (M) Primary Examiner-Andrew R. .luhasz Assistant Examiner-Donald D. Evenson AttorneyBurd, Braddock 8!, Bart:

PATENTED JUN29 l9?! SHEEI 1 OF 2 FIG. 5

[NV/INTUR. FRANKLIN P. BECKER I EDWARD J. CROOK,JR.

ATTORNEYS WIRE ROPE CLIP HOLDER AND LOOP TAKE-UP DEVICE SUMMARY or INVENTION The invention is directed to an apparatus for holding a flexible line, as a wire rope, in position with clamp means, as a U- bolt clip, so that the clamp means can be readily secured to aligned turned back portions of the line. The apparatus has spaced walls with means for accommodating the clamp means whereby the line can be located in close configuration with f clamp means enabling the clamp means to be secured to the line. The sidewalls are part of a portable body having a longitudinal groove separating the sidewalls. The means for the clamp means comprise facing grooves open to the channel for holding and aligning the clamp'means withthe groove. An arm means removably mounted on the body serves as a tongue arm and a connector attaching a loop takeup device to the body. The. takeup device has. a movable member to captivate the loop and force part of the line forming the loop through clamp means held in the body to position a thimble in the eye of the loop and locate the clamp means in close proximity with the thimble.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the wire rope holder in operative association with a turned'back end of a wire rope;

FIG. 2 is a planned view of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of'the holder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the wire rope holder and loop takeup device in operative association with a portion of an end of a wire rope showing a large loop;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view similar to FIG. 7 showing the takeup device locating the thimble in a small loop; and

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of FIG. 9.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown a holding device indicated generally at located on an end section of a wire rope 16 or similar flexible line. The end section of rope 16 is turned back forming a live end 17, dead end 18 and a loop 19 carrying a loop-shaped thimble 21. Thimble 21 has a U-shaped cross section and is located in close relation with the inside portion of loop 19. The ends 17 and 18 of the wire rope are held together with a plurality ofspaced clips indicated generally at 22, 23, 24 and 25. Clip 15 is located in a close relationship relative to the loop 19. The other clips 22 to 24 are equally spaced from each other to hold the dead end 18 in a fixed relation relative to the live end 17. The number of and size of clips used for dead-ending wire rope varies with the rope size.

Clips 22 to 25 are identical, accordingly the following description is limited to clip 24. As shown in FIG. 3, clip 24- comprises a U-bolt 26 surrounding adjacent portions of the live end 17 and dead end 18. A base 27 having a pair of spaced holes for the ends of the U-bolt 26 is located over the live end 17. Spaced wings or legs 28 on the base 27 project adjacent opposite sides of the wire rope to hold the ends 17 and 18 in relative longitudinal alignment. Nuts 29 threaded on the U bolt 26 clamp the base 27 and the curved portion of the U-bolt about the side-by-side longitudinal portions of the wire rope 16. The clamping pressure of the clip flattens the wire rope ends 17 and 18 into elongated surface to surface engagement.

The holding device or holder 15 functions to hold the clip 24 and turned back wire rope ends 17 and 18in close configuration so that the nuts 29 of the clip can be turned down without the use of external holding forces. The holder has particular utility when it is necessary to retighten a wire rope clip after the assembly is in position such as when the wire rope clip is in midair. The holder 15 has a length so that it functions as a spacer to space the clips relative to each other.

The holder 15 comprises a one-piece metal body indicated generally at 31 having a longitudinal channel 32 for aligning the rope in side-by-side longitudinal position and for holding a clip in close relation to the turned back rope. Body 31 has spaced parallel sidewalls 33 and 34 connected together with a flat base 36. Opposite ends of the base 36 have inwardly directed notches 37 and 38 to accommodate fasteners, as bolts, used to attach the clip to a fixed support. Sidewalls 33 and 34 have enlarged portions formed with inwardly facing upright grooves 39 and 41 open to the channel 32. Each groove 39 and 41 have a width slightly larger than the diameter of the U-bolt and extends down to the base 36 so that the U-bolt is held by the body. The inside faces of the sidewalls 33 and 34 have facing recesses 42 and 43 adjacent the upper ends of the grooves 39 and 41 for receiving the wings 28 of the base 27 as shown in FIG. 2. The recesses 42 and 43 taper upwardly and outwardly following the taper of the wings 28.

The narrow portion of the sidewalls 33 and 34 have upright ears 44 and 46 having transversely aligned holes 47 and 48 respectively. The holes 47 and 48 located above the horizontal plane on the top of the sidewalls accommodate a transverse rod 49. Rod 49 is usable as a torque arm and positions the wire ends 17 and ,18 in side-.by-side relation so that the wire rope clip canbe fastened to the wire rope. The outsides of body 31 have flat parallel faces so that the body can be held in a vice or similar clamping means.

Referring to FIGS. 7 to 10, there is shown a loop takeup device indicated generally at 51 operably associated with the holder 15 to locate the thimble 21 in the loop 19 and position clip 25 in close relationship to the open end of the thimble 21. Takeup device 51 has a pair of parallel arms 53 and 54 with upright ends 56 and 57 formed with aligned transverse holes 58 and 59 for accommodating the rod 49. The arms 53 and 54, when mounted on the rod 49 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, engage the sides of the holder body 31 and extend longitudinally adjacent the wire rope past the loop 19. The opposite ends of the arms 53 and 54 are secured to a transverse crossmember 61 threadably carrying a longitudinal screw 62. Screw 62 has a head 63 carrying a pin handle 64 which serves as a torque member to assist rotation of screw. The inner or opposite end of the screw operatively engages a foot 66 carrying a bearing" block 67 rotatably receiving the inner end of screw 62. Foot 66 has a generally H-shapcd cross section with upright side members 68 and 69 located on opposite sides of the loop 19 and adjacent portions of the thimble 21. A cross plate 71 attached to the side members 68 and 69 engages the midportion of the loop 19. The bearing block 67 secured to the midsection of the cross plate 71 positions the side members 68 and 69 in sliding engagement with the arms 53 and 54. Foot 66 extends laterally from opposite sides of the arms 53 and 54 and engages a major portion of the back of loop 19 located in the channel of the foot.

In use, a predetermined amount of wire rope is turned back to form the dead end 18 located longitudinally adjacent the live end 17 to form the large loop 19. The holder 15 is used to initially apply the first clamp 22 to the wire rope with a short portion of the dead end 18 projected through the clip 22. After the clip 22 is fastened to the wire rope 16 the second clip 25 is attached to the rope through the use of holder 31 as shown in FIG. 7 adjacent the loop 19. The rod 49 is placed through the ears holes in the ears 44 and 46 pivotally connecting the takeup device 51 to the holder.

As shown in FIG. 8, the thimble 21 is placed in large eye of loop 19 with the foot 66 adjacent to midportion of the loop 19. By turning the screw 62 the wire rope is forced to slip through the clip 25 by the reaction between the takeup device 51 and the screw 62. Screw 62 is turned down until the thimble 21 is located in close relationship relative to the clip 25 as shown in FIG. 10. The foot 66 being I-I-shaped captivates a length of the rope so that the ends 17 and 18 slide through the clips positioning the thimble flush with the holder and the loop 19 closely about thimble 21. The nuts on the clip 25 are then tightened thereby holding the clip 25 and thimble 21 in close proximity.

After clip 25 is fastened adjacent loop 19 additional clips 23 and 24 are spaced from each other a distance determined by the length of the holder body 31 and clamped to the wire rope. FIG. 1 shows the body 31 as a spacer between the clip 23 and the clip 24 held in the body 31.

The size of the holder and length of the holder 15 varies with the size of the rope and clips used to attach turned-back portions of the rope. To increase the power of the takeup device, screw 62 may be replaced with a longitudinal movable member that is either pneumatically, hydraulically or mechanically actuated to move the shoe 66 relative to the arms 53 and 54 to force the wire rope through the clip positioned in the holder 15.

in terms ofa method of making a loop in the end ofa line, as wire rope, the line is first turned back to place the dead end 18 in longitudinal alignment with the line end 17 to form a large loop 19. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first clip 22 is attached to the terminal portion of end 18 and adjacent portion of line 17. A short portion of end 18, preferably one base width, projects from clip 22. The second clamp held by holder 15 is then attached to ends 17 and 18 between the loop 19 and clip 22. The thimble 21 can be inserted in the eye of the loop. The takeup device 51 is pivotally connected to the holder 15 with rod 49 placed about the loop with foot 66 around the back of the loop. The application of force to foot 66 by turning screw 62 forces part of the line forming the loop through the second clip to reduce the size of the loop locating the second clip in close proximity to the loop and placing the thimble 21 in the eye of the loop 19.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for releasably holding a clip and a line in position in the clip to aid the fastening of the clip to the line comprising: a body having spaced walls having holding means for removably accommodating a U-shaped clip with the open end of the clip positioned outwardly to receive the line and means between the walls for aligning the line on the body and in the clip, and removable means mountable on at least one wall for holding the line in the clip associated with the holding means whereby the clip can be fastened to the line, said clip fastened to the line being removable with the line from the body when the removable means has been released from said one wall.

2. An apparatus for releasably holding a V-shaped clip and a line in position in the clip to aid the fastening of the clip to the line comprising: a body having spaced walls and a longitudinal channel separating the spaced walls, holding means comprising grooves being open to the channel and extended transverse thereto to removably accommodate the U-shaped clip with the open end of the clip positioned to receive the line, and removable means mountable on at least one wall for holding the line in the clip associated with the holding means whereby the clip can be fastened to the line.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said body is generally U-shaped in cross section with a longitudinal channel open to the top of the body, said walls having upwardly directed projections having aligned holes for receiving the removable means 4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said walls have transverse aligned holes for accommodating the removable means.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the removable means is a rod adapted to project through said holes.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said walls have facing recesses adjacent the holding means for accommodating a part of a clip.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the body is part ofa U- shaped body with a longitudinal channel open to the top of the body, said holding means comprising generally upright grooves in the walls open to the channel and extending transverse thereto, said walls having upwardly directed projections with transverse aligned holes located above the channel and spaced from the grooves to receive the removable means and facing recesses adjacent the grooves for receiving a part of a cli E. An apparatus for forming a loop in a line and holding a line in position with a clip adapted to be fastened to the line comprising: spaced walls having holding means for accommodating a clip, removable means mountable on at least one wall for holding turned back portions of the line forming a loop in the clip associated with the holding means, whereby the clip can be fastened to the line to form the loop, a loop takeup device connected to the removable means, said device having a member engageable with the loop, and means moving the member and spaced walls relative to each other to force the loop toward the clip.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the takeup device has a pair of arms connected to the removable means, said member movably located between the arms and said moving means comprising a screw operably associated with the arms and member.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the arms engage outside portions of the walls and are located in the longitudinal plane of the line.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the member has a general channel shape captivating a portion of the loop.

12. An apparatus for releasably holding a line in position with U-shaped clamp means adapted to be fastened to the line comprising: a body member having spaced sidewalls forming a channel extended through the body member for accommodat' ing a portion of the line, said sidewalls having means for holding the U-shaped clamp means aligned with the channel with the open end of the clamp means open to the open side of the channel to receive the line whereby the body member positions the line and clamp means in close configuration and means mountable on at least one wall for holding the line in the clip associated with the holding means whereby the clip can be fastened to the line.

13 The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the clamp means includes a U-bolt and the means for holding the clamp means comprise facing grooves open to the channel for receiving the U-bolt.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the sidewalls have facing recesses adjacent the tops of the grooves for receiving a base portion of the clamp means mountable on the U-bolt.

157 An apparatus for holding a line in position with a clamp means adapted to be fastened to the line comprising: a body member having spaced sidewalls forming a channel extended through the body member for accommodating turned back portions of the line forming a loop end, said sidewalls having means for holding the clamp means aligned with the channel, whereby the body member positions the line and clamp means in close configuration, a loop takeup device connected to the body member, said device having a member engageable with the loop, and means moving the member and body member relative to each other to force the loop toward the clamp means.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the loop takeup device has a pair of arms connected to the body member, said member being movably located between the arms and said moving means comprising a screw operably associated with the arms and member to force the loop toward the clamp means.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the arms engage outside portions of the walls and are located in longitudinal alignment with the line.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the member engageable with the loop has a channel-shape captivating a portion of the loop. 

1. An apparatus for releasably holding a clip and a line in position in the clip to aid the fastening of the clip to the line comprising: a body having spaced walls having holding means for removably accommodating a U-shaped clip with the open end of the clip positioned outwardly to receive the line and means between the walls for aligning the line on the body and in the clip, and removable means mountable on at least one wall for holding the line in the clip associated with the holding means whereby the clip can be fastened to the line, said clip fastened to the line being removable with the line from the body when the removable means has been released from said one wall.
 2. An apparatus for releasably holding a V-shaped clip and a line in position in the clip to aid the fastening of the clip to the line comprising: a body having spaced walls and a longitudinal channel separating the spaced walls, holding means comprising grooves being open to the channel and extended transverse thereto to removably accommodate the U-shaped clip with the open end of the clip positioned to receive the line, and removable means mountable on at least one wall for holding the line in the clip associated with the holding means whereby the clip can be fastened to the line.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said body is generally U-shaped in cross section with a longitudinal channel open to the top of the body, said walls having upwardly directed projections having aligned holes for receiving the removable means
 4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said walls have transverse aligned holes for accommodating the removable means.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the removable means is a rod adapted to project through said holes.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said walls have facing recesses adjacent the holding means for accommodating a part of a clip.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the body is part of a U-shaped body with a longitudinal channel open to the top of the body, said holding means comprising generally upright grooves in the walls open to the channel and extending transverse thereto, said walls having upwardly directed projections with transverse aligned holes located above the channel and spaced from the grooves to receive the removable means and facing recesses adjacent the grooves for receiving a part of a clip.
 8. An apparatus for forming a loop in a line and holding a line in position with a clip adapted to be fastened to the line comprising: spaced walls having holding means for accommodating a clip, removable means mountable on at least one wall for holding turned back portions of the line forming a loop in the clip associated with the holding means, whereby the clip can be fastened to the line to form the loop, a loop takeup device connected to the removable means, said device having a member engageable with the loop, and means moving the member and spaced walls relative to each other to force the loop toward the clip.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the takeup device has a pair of arms connected to the removable means, said member movably located between the arms and said moving means comprising a screw operably associated with the arms and member.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the arms engage outside portions of the walls and are located in the longitudinal plane of the line.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the member has a general channel shape captivating a portion of the loop.
 12. An apparatus for releasably holding a line in position with U-shaped clamp means adapted to be fastened to the line comprising: a body member having spaced sidewalls forming a channel extended through the body member for accommodating a portion of the line, said sidewalls having means for holding the U-shaped clamp means aligned with the channel with the open end of the clamp means open to the open side of the channel to receive the line whereby the body member positions the line and clamp means in close configuration and means mountable on at least one wall for holding the line in the clip associated with the holding means whereby the clip can be fastened to the line.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the clamp means includes a U-bolt and the means for holding the clamp means comprise facing grooves open to the channel for receiving the U-bolt.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the sidewalls have facing recesses adjacent the tops of the grooves for receiving a base portion of the clamp means mountable on the U-bolt.
 15. An apparatus for holding a line in position with a clamp means adapted to be fastened to the line comprising: a body member having spaced sidewalls forming a channel extended through the body member for accommodating turned back portiOns of the line forming a loop end, said sidewalls having means for holding the clamp means aligned with the channel, whereby the body member positions the line and clamp means in close configuration, a loop takeup device connected to the body member, said device having a member engageable with the loop, and means moving the member and body member relative to each other to force the loop toward the clamp means.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the loop takeup device has a pair of arms connected to the body member, said member being movably located between the arms and said moving means comprising a screw operably associated with the arms and member to force the loop toward the clamp means.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the arms engage outside portions of the walls and are located in longitudinal alignment with the line.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the member engageable with the loop has a channel-shape captivating a portion of the loop. 